12.  Tang Court Painting and Art Treasures of the Silk Road

Tang dynasty (618-907)

Concept: genre

Names/Terms:

Chang'an:   capital of the Tang dynasty, located in modern-day Xi'an (near the tomb of the first emperor of China)

attributions:   when it is not clear if the painting we are looking at is a false or true copy, we attribute the painting to a particular artist instead of asserting that it definitely is by that artist.

tribute:   a gift offered from a subordinate to a superior

Objects:

Yan Liben 阎立本 (c. 600-675). Emperor Taizong Receiving Tibetan Envoy.   Handscroll, ink and color on silk; 38.5 x 129.6 cm.

silver dish with deer design.   diameter 19 3/4” (fig. 6-29)

rhyton wine-drinking cup (Sassanian or Sogdian), made of onyx stone, length 6” (fig. 6-37)

Han Gan 韩干, attributed.   Night-shining White.   8th century. Handscroll, ink on paper; 14 x 12” (fig. 6-35)

sancai 三彩 (“three color”) ware; examples of spirit objects (mingqi 明器) with sancai glaze

genres:

“beautiful women” genre (meiren hua 美人画)

Zhou Fang 周昉 , attributed.   Ladies Wearing Flowers In Their Hair. 8th century.   Handscroll, ink and pigments on silk; 18 x 69” (fig. 6-27)

• Compare with silk brocade from Central Asia
• Compare with Central Asian mural painting of woman playing chess (weiqi 围棋).   Astana cemetary, Turfan, Xinjiang.   Silk; H: 24 3/4” (fig. 6-28)
• Murals in tomb of Princess Yongtai 永泰公主, 8th century

nobility

Yan Liben, attributed.   Thirteen Emperors.   7th century.   Handscroll, ink and pigments on silk; 20 x 17.5” (fig. 6-26)

• Compare with murals of Tang officials and foreign emissary in the tomb of Prince Zhanghuai, 张怀太子墓 Qianling, Shaanxi, 706-711 CE (fig. 6-36)

religious figures

Wang Wei 王维, attributed.   Ink Bodhisattva.   Undated.   Monochrome ink on hemp.